


Universal Signs

by Starry_Stark



Category: Black Panther (2018), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Note: This was written before the release of Black Panther, Romantic Gestures, T'Challa and Tony love each other, T'Challa and Tony read each others body language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-12-31 09:53:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12129909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starry_Stark/pseuds/Starry_Stark
Summary: T'Challa speaks English fairly well. Tony can stumble along Wakandan phrases. Sometimes it's just easier to read their body language.





	Universal Signs

Meetings with the UN were a necessity, no matter the loathing both T'Challa and Tony felt when they saw it pencilled into their hectic schedules. Since the infamous Civil War, Tony was at the top of his game in these kind of meetings, determined never to let anything like it happen again, but T'Challa was tired. The kind of tired that left you washed-out, fuzzy, and so worn-down that you could feel it in your very bones. 

In all honestly, he'd been flung from one world crisis to the next without so much as a break to catch his breath. He'd lost his father, brought the Black Panther into the public eye, became King of Wakanda, continued his fathers work with the Sokovia Accords, offered sanctuary to James Barnes to keep him from turning into the soldier in a public space, with Barnes came the rest of Team Cap, suddenly he was harboring fugitives, and to top it all off, he was sat in this monotonous board room whilst World Leaders played ping pong with what laws to pass.

So he was tired.

The only spark of joy he'd felt during the whole darkening mess was his newly-found relationship with none other than Anthony Edward Stark. It was honestly a shock to both of them at how well they'd clicked, but both welcomed the warmth in their life with open arms and somehow they'd become a disgustingly domestic couple.

Which was probably why Tony was giving him such concerned looks across the room.

You see, T'Challa might not understand all the ins and outs of American slang, and Tony might not know the less common Wakandan words, but actions spoke louder than words. Speaking is not the sole mean of communication. Body language and facial expressions played perhaps an even bigger part than speech, and T'Challa knew that he was displaying all the signs of tiredness.

Slouched posture (his father would be scandalised), drooping eyes, dry lips, and the subtle crease of his brow as his slowed mind tried to keep up with the fast-paced meeting.

When the meeting was adjourned, T'Challa felt as if he would collapse with fatigue. In fact, that's exactly what he did. Luckily, before his body even had the chance of hitting the ground, a strong pair of arms wrapped around his chest to lean him against them.

"It okay, mio amore, I'll get you home." Tony whispered in his ear.

So T'Challa let his eyes droop.

\/\/\/\/\/

In all honestly, Tony was beginning to get his life on track without the original Avengers.

Suddenly he didn't feel like he was fighting an uphill battle to prove his worth to super soldiers, international spies, and a demi god, but felt that the people around him knew his worth and that he was capable, and that was a weight off his shoulders.

But everyone had off days.

The soul-crushing guilt and sorrow would engulf every fibre of his being, his brain would be under siege from threatening thoughts, always doubting himself and the decisions he made leading up to and during the infamous Civil War. Big decisions like bringing Spider-Man to the airport fight, that Tony beat himself up over everyday, to small, insignificant things such as maybe if he'd had something different to eat that day, maybe none of it would have happened. Tony knew that these thoughts were stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid! But T'Challa didn't think so. He always knew what Tony was thinking without a single word. 

T'Challa could tell from a single glance if it was one of those days. The way Tony's shoulders would hunch, his beautiful brown eyes would go glassy and unseeing, and how his breathing was shallow, making as little noise as possible.

There was not a single phrase in any language that Tony could express the gut-wrenching heartache that he felt deep within him, but T'Challa knew.

He knew how Tony was torn apart by his guilt, even if the guilt did not always belong to him. T'Challa did not have to know how to speak like an American to comfort his beloved.

"Come here, mnandi, it shall all be okay." 

And Tony knew it would be.

\/\/\/\/\/

Since the loss of his father, grief had followed him like a shadow. Being the Prince of Wakanda had left him with limited people to talk to. Of course he would speak to his subjects regularly, he loved and respected each and every one of them. But he could never speak so freely to someone like he could with his father.

King T'Chaka had been the guiding light in his life, letting him make mistakes so that he could learn, but also teaching him valuable life lessons that made him the man he is today. Without his father in his life, it felt as if their was a gaping hole in his heart, burning his chest and clouding his thoughts.

Shuri, his sister, understood the all-encompassing heartbreak he was feeling at the loss of their father, but he didn't know how to talk to her about something so terrible. T'Challa and Shuri had always been an unbreakable image of strength and resilience but now, neither sibling knew how to act around each other, and it just made T'Challa's heart ache harder. 

His eyes would sear from unshed salty tears that he refused to let fall, and his shoulders would tremble with overwhelming emotions. His aching lungs would shake as T'Challa tried to draw a single steady breath to no avail, and his back would throb with tension as he tried to keep his grief at bay.

When Tony entered the room, he only needed to look at him before he had a Tony wrapped around him, gently rocking him back and forth. They had a deep connection, and T'Challa could only be thankful for it.

"I understand, mio amore, I understand."

\/\/\/\/

For all the millions he had, Tony still more often than not felt incredibly lonely. Of course he had T'Challa, Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy, but sometimes he felt that he was truly alone in the world to battle against it. To protect it.

T'Challa could always tell when Tony was feeling lonely from the tension in his shoulders to the slight sad droop of his lips. As well as this, his usual ten minute showers would take up to twenty to thirty minutes where T'Challa knew full well that Tony just stood under the burning water, staring at the water as it trickled down the white tiles on the wall. Sometimes the showers would leave Tony refreshed and renewed, his sense of loneliness replaced with a new idea for SI or the desire to wrap himself around T'Challa like a koala.

This time it was not the case.

T'Challa approached carefully, taking in the little signs of Tony's loneliness from the slight shine of tears in his eyes to the quietly shuddering breaths that you could only hear of you listened hard enough. Luckily, T'Challa knew what to listen for.

Slowly, he sat down next to his beloved and curled a comforting arm around his shoulder which Tony gratefully leaned into, craving the warmth and interaction. After all, Tony was a very tactile person, as much as he loathed to admit it.

"I am here, mnandi, I am here."

\/\/\/\/

T'Challa could feel himself buzzing with nerves.

He was the Black Panther, the King of Wakanda, a mighty warrior who was respected worldwide...whose heart was pounding in his ears from the amount of nerves he was feeling.

Opening and closing his hands into fists, he was hyperaware of just how clammy they were and the butterflies in his stomach tripled their antics. T'Challa had never been so nervous in his life.

Tonight was the night he was going to propose to Tony. Oh God, even the thought made him smile like a damn fool. This was a question that he woukd never regret asking.

But it didn't make asking it any easier.

Sat across from him was the most beautiful man in the world, smiling in a way so carefree that it made his eyes crinkle and sparkle like the most magnificent thing he had ever seen. Tony. His caring, beautiful, intelligent Tony who was the man T'Challa wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Every minute movement, joke, and laugh made him fall in love with the man just a little bit more, which he didn't even think was possible.

As Tony took a sip of his alcohol-free rosé (he wasn't going back down the route of alcoholism) T'Challa knew it was time to ask the question. The setting was perfect. They were sat on Tony's balcony at Stark Tower, the railings draped in fairy lights and the meal lit by candlelight, then, adding the natural glow of New York's lights, it all made for a truly romantic scene.

"Tony, my mnandi, I have a question to ask you." T'Challa announced softly, feeling his mouth dry up in anticipation.

Tony nodded to give him the go ahead, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he could see that now Tony too was nervous.

Sliding out of his chair, T'Challa gracefully knelt down on the floor and pulled out a red velvet box from his jacket pocket. Seeing Tony's eyes widen in surprise, he slowly opened the box to reveal a silver ring that glistened in the light, showing the engraving of 'mnandi' in delicate cursive.

"Tony, my mnandi, my beautiful, beautiful mnandi. You have made my life so much better and shown me what true love looks like. I love you more than words can express, Wakandan and English alike. I have never met someone who is so caring, loving, and intelligent in my life. I would be honoured if you would like to spend our lives together. Anthony Edward Stark, will you marry me?" T'Challa confessed, his dark brown eyes becoming damp as he showed so freely the intense emotion that his love for Tony was.

Tony's eyes were still wide and shocked, and for a single awful moment as he held hus breath, he thought Tony was going to say no. Then, like a flick of a switch, Tony's handsome face broke out into a cheek-splitting smile and his gorgeous brown eyes began to fill with tears of joy.

"Yes! Oh God, T'Challa, mio amore, yes!" Tony beamed, throwing himself into T'Challa's arms.

And as the laid in bed that night, pressed against each other, Tony's head in the crook of T'Challa's neck, the young King knew that he would be by Tony's side forever.

Always looking for signs that he was okay.

**Author's Note:**

> lmao this is awful i know  
> i literally just bashed this out cause what i'm trying to wrote is not going too good  
> sorry for any mistakes they're completly my fault
> 
> find me on tumblr Starry-Stark


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